Missing Teen Found Murdered In Florida Was Involved In Human Trafficking Case

A teenage girl who had been missing since August was found shot dead outside an Orlando home on Broken Pine Circle around 7 p.m. this week, with cops saying she was tied to a human trafficking case, said reports.

The 16-year-old girl who has been identified as De’Shayla Ferguson was just 15 when she ran away from a Department of Children and Families office in Orlando. She had been taken there to be placed with a family for the night because she was expected in court the next day as part of a human trafficking investigation.

On Monday, Oct. 24 Ferguson was found shot dead next to a car. The incident occurred two months after she went missing and four days after her 16th birthday.

Ferguson’s death is currently being investigated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, but so far no arrests have been made and no suspects have been named, said reports.

In a statement on Tuesday, Oct. 25 the Sheriff's office assured that genuine efforts were made by the detectives to find and arrest Ferguson’s killers.

The sheriff’s office said, “Be assured, our homicide detectives are working diligently to find and arrest her killer.”

A report from the Orlando Police Department that has been obtained by the media revealed that Ferguson was a ward of the state and a “habitual runaway.”

Ferguson’s alleged involvement in a “human trafficking case in Orange County was also mentioned in it,” but no additional information was available at the moment.

According to the document, Ferguson was last seen alive on Aug. 12 at the DCF office on South Kirman Road in Orlando. While waiting to be placed with a family, Ferguson “became argumentative with staff” and took off.

Two DCF workers who went looking for the girl had to return empty-handed. The teen’s information was posted on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website after filing a missing person report.

Information on how and where Ferguson spent the last two months of her life after she took off is still unknown along with the killer's motive.